Writing about random topics

When a deal is not a deal

A couple of weeks ago, a representative for Verizon came to my place and tried to sign me up for internet service. They actually wanted to sell me internet, TV and local phone, but I don’t have local phone so I said “No, thanks.” They kept insisting and bugging me and I was hungry for dinner and just wanted to get them off my back, plus I didn’t know off the top of my head how much my current provider charges me. So I said “Fine. I’ll take internet.” They made an appointment to come down and install it a month later.

During the process, the agent was kind of rude. He phoned up the local back office to schedule the appointment and ended up having a rather lengthy conversation with the person back there for quite a long time. “Hey, how’s it going? I haven’t talked to you in a long time! How are you? What are you doing this weekend? Blah, blah, blah…” And it was right in front of me! I thought that dragged the process out more than it needed to. Quite frankly, I just wanted to accept the meeting and then cancel it later. I’m sitting there thinking to myself “Do you really have to do this now? On my time?”

I later on checked my Internet bill and discovered my current provider was about $1 per month less than Verizon would be. So my plan was to cancel Verizon which was exacerbated by the fact that I was annoyed at the agent who signed me up.

So anyhow, I got an automated phone call today reminding me that my appointment was next month. They asked me if next weekend was still good for me, and I said no. They routed me to an agent where I said I wanted to cancel. Here’s where it got interesting.

I said that there was no cost savings to me and that I wanted to cancel my installation. They then said “How about if we give you $10 off per month?” I hesitated. I was really interested by that because you know how much I like to save money. But I turned it down, I didn’t want the service. They then came back with “How about if we waive the $30 setup fee?” That was even more enticing. But I thought it over… I just didn’t want to go with Verizon because changing my service provider was going to be a hassle and I simply did not want to go to the trouble of phoning up Comcast and doing this song and dance with them. They’d try to retain me as well and I couldn’t be bothered. Then I’d have to phone up Verizon again and cancel with them. Plus, I am still irritated at the rude agent who sold me the service. Plus, I had to run to another meeting and I really needed to end the conversation. I wanted to cancel and I didn’t want to argue with anyone.

So, the bottom line of the story is this — while it certainly was a decent deal to switch over to Verizon from Comcast, I didn’t want the service in the first place and agent annoyed me. Plus I didn’t want to take the time to cancel my existing service and waste even more time, plus I didn’t have time to debate the matter. This was a deal but it didn’t come cheap.